Beyond the Aureate Fields
by apricornlatte
Summary: A girl meets a dragon. Circumstances change and fate pulls them apart. What can one do to change one’s fate? (Slow NaLu, slight GaLe and Gruvia later on.)
1. The First Encounter

**This is my second fanfic! I've edited it a couple times but there still might be a few grammatical mistakes hidden inside. So I'll apologise for that before you start reading...or if you've already started, you should've read the warning.** **Read and leave a review! Enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does, I'm just a girl who's obsessed with fanfics.**

The sun gleamed gently and the breeze blew by lightly, ruffling the leaves of the bushes and trees. Clouds littered the azure sky that promised beautiful weather for the days to come. The hills were lush, and the forests beside it green. The fields surrounding it were filled with wildflowers of every kind, an explosion of colour. Inside these terrains, the streams were crystal clear and the sparkling water glittered like jewels under the starlight.

Within this rare onslaught of many grounds, lay a beast. A small one at that, whimpering as it let out an melancholy whine. Fire spurted out of its nose as it inhaled a small flower's pollen. The dragon moaned again, except this time, it was easy to hear the loss in its voice. An unmistakable sound of brokenness and anyone who heard it, would've been reduced to wailing tears whilst clawing at their throats to ease the pain inside.

The little red dragon with a creamy underbelly sniffled for a while before it soon fell into an uneasy rest. Little did it know, within hours a person would stumble upon it. And with her, came trouble.

LiNeBrEaKLiNeBrEaKLiNeBrEaKLiNeBrEaKLiNeBrE

"No! Let me go!" A little girl screeched. Her blonde hair stuck to her face as tears streamed down her pale cheeks. She met his glare, the one that he'd always send her. The one that told her that she had done something terribly wrong and that everything was her fault. What a sorry excuse for a father he was.

Disobedience resulted in punishment. Solitude.

The brown sleeve of his suit shifted upwards and showed the skin of his wrist. She saw a chance...and she took it. The girl tried to pull away from the man's hand once again but it was fruitless. In the heat of the moment, she bit him. He cried out in shock and loosened his hold.

But that was all she needed, even if only for a split second. With that, she bolted. Running from the shadows that haunted her in her home, the fear, the constant weighing of mournful hallways that used to be filled with laughter now empty with nothing but saddened memories.

She ran.

Ran past the townspeople who gasped at the crying girl. Past the stores and homes that circled around the Heartfilia mansion. Into the forest and through to a bridge where she collapsed on the rotting wood that creaked under her weight.

Heavy sobs wracked her young body and tears that were ones of utter sorrow slid down her face.

"Mother! Come back! I need you! Mummy!" She screamed as she balled up her fists, kneeling on the floor. Flashes of a beautiful woman with golden hair and the most lovely caramel eyes smiling kindly at her filled her mind. Within her spike of emotion, she almost missed the soft whine that ensnared her attention. Her head lifted from the wood that was stained with her large wet tears.

Chocolate brown eyes widened as they took in a beast.

It was a dragon, no doubt about it. It had ruby scales that shone dimly in the evening sun. Under it, from the bottom of its jaw going through its underbelly to the ends of its tail was an eggshell birch. She gasped, hand shooting to her mouth as it's onyx eyes met hers. She felt inclined to scream, but not in terror nor to alert others, but purely out of wonder. She'd never seen a dragon before.

She'd heard of them, in her large trading port of a town, but only tales spun from an elder's mind and the news of rampaging ones from other districts. She cocked her head to the side, thinking that they should've been be bigger than the size before her, even as a dragonling...according to the stories.

If they were truly this small when young, would they grow large enough to demolish an entire range of mountains with just a flick of its tail? Was it then false that a dragon towered over mountains and the tips of its horn protruded the heavens? Did it not feast on villagers as newborns to grow? There was even one particular legend about how there were a breed whose self defence was shooting it's excrement out.

Truth be told, she found that particular breed of dragon hard to believe.

But she was shocked nonetheless. This one looked nothing like the pictures she'd drawn nor the sketches displayed in the town. Whatever painting of the beast she may have once had in her mind shattered in an instant. It let out another whine. The beast was certainly captivating as it was precious.

Before she could register her movements, she was already approaching it carefully.

"Hey there little one." She cooed softly. Wonder had now replaced her despair and she was grateful. The dragon's eyes widened before running back a few paces. She continued to follow it slowly, but allowed herself to remain in its view at all times. The chocolate eyed girl couldn't help but feel as if she were intruding. But nonetheless, she continued to keep eye contact with the creature, only displaying what she hoped looked like kindness in her eyes.

"My name is Lucy," She introduced soothingly. She paused for a moment when it hissed. "Shh, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you." Lucy smiled, but it didn't seem to think so. Within seconds, it had already turned tail and ran though the dense thicket.

The effect was instantaneous.

Lucy felt excitement filling her up to her very brim before she let out a ear-splitting squeal. It was no surprise that the noise had attracted townspeople came rushing towards her like a stampede. An old man came tumbling through the brush first.

"What's wrong Lady Lucy?" He asked, voice slightly panicked. She grinned at him, pure joy rushing through her bones.

"I saw a dragon!" She responded gleefully. The man's eyes widened. He was rendered nothing but a gaping mess for a moment. "It was a baby! It really was quite extravagant!" She continued with a far off look in her shining eyes. The broken-toothed man was about to scold her for making up stories when a young lady came. Her red hair was tied up in a tight bun and her blue eyes were harsh.

"Oh really my dear? That's lovely. Let's take you back to the mansion then." The seamstress cut in, gripping the blonde by the shoulders and steering her away. The smile fell from her face as she became aware of the fact that she'd be returning to the very place she had attempted to escape from. Lucy tried pulling away, but the movement didn't even faze the lady. The iron hold on her shoulders was too strong and she reluctantly gave in.

Preparing herself for the sure punishment awaiting her.

 **And that's the first chapter!**


	2. Hidden Where No Man’s Been Before

**Here's the second chapter for you! It's a work in progress so...enjoy! :)**

A month had passed since the incident and Lucy was bored out of her mind. Her private tutor spoke drearily in front of her, pointing to the blackboard behind him with a thin, wooden stick. She stifled a small giggle as she saw the stout man's arms waving around in the air, a poor attempt to gain her attention, the hickory wood smacking the back of his bald head and knocking down his tin of stationary in the process. It was an absurd sight to behold. A short, middle aged man bending over his stubby legs to reach his quills but failing. He looked like an young vulcan trying to scale Mount Oltana with its legs tied up and on fire.

Utterly and completely hilarious.

Kicking the table in frustration only made the situation worse for him, but even more amusing for her. She barely managed to keep in her laughter when he tripped down the steep stone stairs in his most recent attempt to pick up the quills which had fallen under the table. His tight pants ripped when he fell and Lucy would've felt a small wave of pity for him, had he not been a horrible man to begin with. Not to mention extremely patriarchal, as he'd spouted multiple snide comments about females and education.

Red-faced and sweaty, he stumbled out of the room muttering curses to himself. When the room was satisfyingly quiet, the blonde smiled to herself. She'd driven away a total of six useless tutors in the timeframe of a week. Not to mention that the only thing they did was drone on about things she already knew.

With this tutor gone, Lucy crept through the empty corridors and slipped through the huge wooden double doors and into the warm afternoon sunlight. She hurried through the sandstone clearing, carefully making sure that she wasn't seen.

Lucy relaxed when she was hidden in the shadows, allowing herself a moment to feel gleeful. Trees soon surrounded her and Lucy searched around for any signs of the dragon. It'd been a whole month since she saw the wondrous beast and she'd be regretful had she not at least gone back to see if it were merely a trick if the light.

The golden haired girl treaded quietly through the town and snatching a cloak on her way to hide her face. She received odd looks from many of the townspeople but she hurried past them when their gaze lingered for too long.

The first thing Lucy did after she finally reached the outskirts of the forest, was lean nonchalantly against the trunk of a tree pretending to be enjoying the cool shade on the sweltering day. When the blonde was sure no one was watching, she slipped into the forest and leaving her cloak behind in a rumpled garnet mess.

Strangely enough, as she ventured deeper into the thick forest, the dappled light from through the leaves got brighter. Lucy continued to stumble along the uneven forest floor, but just as she stepped forward, her foot caught onto a loose root. So down she tumbled, fallen leaves knotting into her hair and springy twigs scratching her soft face. The girl landed with a thump, dirt embedding itself into her clothes and cuts peppering her face and limbs. She looked up through half closed eyes and licked her dry lips.

At first, all she saw was a blinding white but that soon subsided to a vibrant yellow. Lucy staggered and grasped onto the rough bark of a tree. As she caught her breath and rolled out the kinks caused by the fall, she couldn't help but notice how different the ground was. As surprising as that was.

The soil didn't seem touched in the slightest. It was soft and rich and smelt fresh even from a distance. Little green saplings were dotted along the dirt and delicate yet fragrant blue flowers that grew near clumps of grass seemed to glow with a strikingly beautiful indigo hue.

Whilst observing her new surroundings, she allowed her legs lead her along a path that sparkled softly. A seemingly impossible scene. Sunlight was filtered through the dense shelter of the trees, but the streams of light that did get through made the dirt shine. The minerals in the ground were more plentiful, and appeared to be visibly larger. She could just see the faint gleam of copper and bronze within the earth. _I've never seen anything like this before_ , she thought.

It wasn't until she reached a vast gold prairie did she realise why. Flowers of every colour burst into her vision, hills of emerald rolled into the distance, valleys were filled with the crystal water that glittered innocently and there were colossal mountains that shielded the terrain from the outer world. It was absolutely glorious and sitting right in the middle of it was by far the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It was the dragon. _It is the home of the legendary beast!_

She approached it quietly but ensuring that it could sense her. As intelligent onyx eyes bore into her skull, she gave a small smile. Her own eyes scanned the dragon, her interest at its peak. But the look it gave her made her stop in her tracks. A wave of pity washed over her and she approached it more cautiously.

"Oh you poor thing. What's wrong?" She cooed once more. The slanted stare it gave her was one of bewilderment. Lucy dared to gaze into its eyes, and she was shocked to see that it was an expression she knew it all too well. It was the same one that she saw in herself when she looked in the mirror after she woke up, reaching for her mother, only to realise she wasn't there.

Gulping, she shuffled towards the beast and she sat down next to it. It flinched and took a few steps to place space between them. She frowned but understood. The blonde knew that she wasn't what it knew to be normal.

There the two sat in companionable silence. Watching as the day slowly faded and the beginnings of an evening sky bled through the sapphire day. Tinges of lilac that'd begun to soak through was soon set alight with curtains of butter and honey. Little Lucy yawned and let out a sigh as she watched the serene view. The dragon beside remained silent still, but it too yawned tiredly.

"You're very pretty. Did you know that?" She murmured quietly as it turned its head toward her. "I'm sure that you're a girl. You're too beautiful. Girl dragons are always prettiest." The dragon stared at her, looking almost incredulous but she shook it off. The blonde stood and stretched her legs, bits of dirt and grass clinging to her now sticky skin. She let the cool air dry her sweaty legs.

She was about to head home when a realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. It was the fact that her father was likely to be waiting for her return. Lucy winced at the familiar twinge of trepidation in her gut, and the shiver of fear that flowed through her veins at the thought. Thinking hard, she went to ask the dragon. Only to find that it had fallen asleep.

"It couldn't hurt to lay down on the grass…" Lucy reasoned to herself. "Just for a little while. Just to recollect my thoughts." The grass welcomed her into its soft, jade blades. The smell of pines and fresh soil seeped into her nose. She took another whiff of the refreshing ground before closing her eyes for moment. The sound of faraway trees rustling in the gentle breeze and the trickling of a nearby brook became her lullaby.

Her eyelids grew heavy and it wasn't long before she fell into the dark depths of sleep.

 **That's the second chapter!**


	3. On the hinge of insanity

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, and I'm depressed, because this story sucks but I don't care!**

Warmth.

That was all she felt.

She felt safe.

She felt comfortable.

The gentle heat wrapped around her small body and coaxed her deeper into her slumber.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Birds sang outside her window, streams of the morning sunlight naturally pried her out of her sleep. Even so, she snuggled deeper into her soft bed, enveloped in the silk that kept her cosy.

Wait. What bed?

This sudden realisation shot Lucy's body upwards. She frantically searched her surroundings, shock coursing through her veins. The blonde leapt out of her bed and ripped her bedroom door open with such panic, she could hear the hinges squeak in protest.

Maids stood in their usual daily posts which bewildered her. Everything looked the same as her mansion did, why was she here? Lucy was sure that she had run away...she was certain that she had seen the dragon...hadn't she? She knew she had! She had to have! She must've! It didn't make sense!

The girl slammed her door shut just as a maid was approached her with curious eyes, on instinct she shut one of her rare slivers of wooden privacy as it suffered its second rattling assault of the day. Lucy didn't care that she was being rude. She would apologise later.

"No no no no no! I'm not going mad! I was there! I was there! It wasn't a dream! I-I'll prove it!" The blonde cried on the brink of hysteria.

Lucy snatched a baby blue cloak and swung open the door, not bothering to close it as she sprinted down the hallway. Her barefooted appearance spoke volumes of her state of mind. It was most unladylike.

Maids glanced around and gasped at the sight for a crazed heiress flying past them with teary eyes. Her hair was as messy as a bird nest, her dress was scratched, torn and muddy and her face was peppered with small cuts. She didn't care. It should've been enough proof. But it wasn't. How could she be here? Nothing made sense!

The blonde stumbled through the forest, her feet were likely bloodied and she was sure that her once beautiful pink dress was now reduced to tatters. Lucy tripped, fell and rolled through the trees, nature's maze a mystery to her. Rocks and things dig into her feet, dirt sticking to her. The child winced but persevered. The golden fields were real! It was real! The dragon was real!

Then she glimpsed it. But it was all the motivation she needed. Lucy worked even harder as she tumbled through the bushes. She saw a light and it reassured her, relief plastered to her face. Just as she broke through the dense trees, she felt the cold, sharp blade of anguish slice her heart it two. Lucy's chapped lips trembled, her wide eyes horrified and breathing erratic.

She was back in the town. Villagers stared at her horrendous figure, frowning. They dismissed her as nothing but another abandoned child. Those were common nowadays. Bastards were nothing but trouble. Lucy wasn't recognised as the future heiress, no. If she were calmer, then she would've relished the thought that she was deemed normal. But in her current state, she couldn't care less. Nobody lent her their help, not even a hand to lift her from the dusty, dirt ridden cobblestone.

Determination struck her. She would search again.

Again and again, she sprinted and fell and stumbled and tumbled. She didn't care. She would find that place.

Again and again, she arrived at the town, more and more people offering her strange looks. Every time, her mind whirled around her until she came to a startling conclusion.

She was going in circles.

 **And that's chapter 3! Super short and really, below what I was hoping for...oh well.**


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